Request to Egypt - Please don't kill our suspect!
db: The Financial Times reports that Egypt says it has arrested an Egyptian student, Magdy Mahmoud Mostapha al-Nashar, wanted in connection with last week's attacks in London. A statement from the interior ministry on Friday confirmed that Mr al-Nashar was being interrogated, but gave no details about the date or circumstances of his arrest. Read more
Being arrested in Egypt - the leading "Renditions Sky-Partner" - may turn out to be unfortunate both for the accused personally - his family, his friends - and for the integrity of the ongoing investigation into the London bombings. With Egypt's well documented history of torture there is a danger that not only would evidence gained under it be contestable but it would also be unreliable. What is more, with the level of enthusiasm that the Egyptians are known to employ in their interrogations there is no guarantee that the suspect will remain alive for long.
As Human Rights Watch put it in their briefing paper of Feb 2004 "Torture in Egypt is a widespread and persistent phenomenon. Security forces and the police routinely torture or ill-treat detainees, particularly during interrogation. In most cases, officials torture detainees to obtain information and coerce confessions, occasionally leading to death in custody. In some cases, officials use torture detainees to punish, intimidate, or humiliate. Police also detain and torture family members to obtain information or confessions from a relative, or to force a wanted relative to surrender
While torture in Egypt has typically been used against political dissidents, in recent years it has become epidemic, affecting large numbers of ordinary citizens who find themselves in police custody as suspects or in connection with criminal investigations. The Egyptian authorities do not investigate the great majority of allegations of torture despite their obligation to do so under Egyptian and international law. In the few cases where officers have been prosecuted for torture or ill-treatment, charges were often inappropriately lenient and penalties inadequate. This lack of effective public accountability and transparency has led to a culture of impunity."
Read more
Being arrested in Egypt - the leading "Renditions Sky-Partner" - may turn out to be unfortunate both for the accused personally - his family, his friends - and for the integrity of the ongoing investigation into the London bombings. With Egypt's well documented history of torture there is a danger that not only would evidence gained under it be contestable but it would also be unreliable. What is more, with the level of enthusiasm that the Egyptians are known to employ in their interrogations there is no guarantee that the suspect will remain alive for long.
As Human Rights Watch put it in their briefing paper of Feb 2004 "Torture in Egypt is a widespread and persistent phenomenon. Security forces and the police routinely torture or ill-treat detainees, particularly during interrogation. In most cases, officials torture detainees to obtain information and coerce confessions, occasionally leading to death in custody. In some cases, officials use torture detainees to punish, intimidate, or humiliate. Police also detain and torture family members to obtain information or confessions from a relative, or to force a wanted relative to surrender
While torture in Egypt has typically been used against political dissidents, in recent years it has become epidemic, affecting large numbers of ordinary citizens who find themselves in police custody as suspects or in connection with criminal investigations. The Egyptian authorities do not investigate the great majority of allegations of torture despite their obligation to do so under Egyptian and international law. In the few cases where officers have been prosecuted for torture or ill-treatment, charges were often inappropriately lenient and penalties inadequate. This lack of effective public accountability and transparency has led to a culture of impunity."
Read more
posted by exoplanet at 7:04 PM
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